Living the Fantasy

Keira Hart was the stuff of every man's fantasy: feisty, passionate and beautiful. Maybe that was why hotel mogul Ryan Murphy had never been able to forget her. Certainly no one since had been able to compare. So when Ryan discovered that Keira was teaching in Fiji, he decided to buy a hotel property in the idyllic country and then maybe discuss a more personal merger with Keira. But Ryan is shocked when Keira seeks him out firstwith a protest sign and a bunch of picketers!

Since she last saw Ryan, Keira has devoted her life to teaching underprivileged children in third-world countries. Ryan Murphy and his newly acquired hotel are threatening her school, and she's going to stop himno matter how sexy he is in a suit.

Chapter Thirteen

Keira anticipated a bout of nervousness at being back in the same state as her parents. Venturing anywhere close to Boston reminded her of all the ways she'd fallen short of family expectations. She'd gotten past it for the most part, but sometimes she craved the kind of family that Ryan talked about.

Still, she'd thought she'd squashed most of the nerves until she saw Ryan's house.

It was a mammoth structure perched on a hill in a little town called Chatham on the southeastern coast of Cape Cod. The home loomed before her as she stepped from the airport cab. Ryan paid the driver for bringing in their bags and she swallowed hard.

"It's huge," she observed, wondering why one man needed a house that probably ran upward of four thousand square feet.

"Not compared to the other houses on the block." Ryan tucked his arm around her and steered her toward the front door, his touch instantly reminding her of other, more sensual touches shared the night before. "I got it because of its location. My parents live a mile down the beach, which works well since my father and I do a lot of business from his home office. This gives me my own space, but it's close enough that I can quickly get to and from my parents'."

His thumb made idle circles on her waist while he opened the lock. Goose bumps traveled over her skin and she wondered how she could want him so soon after all the attention they'd lavished on each other the night before. Or maybe the goose bumps came from seeing the way he'd built a home so close to his familyone of the best signs she'd seen yet that maybe Ryan wasn't all about being a corporate cutthroat. Hints of the man beneath the slick veneer were beginning to bleed through.

As they entered, Keira noticed the historical marker on the exterior that said the house had been built in 1900. Inside, she was pleasantly surprised. The home lacked the showy details her parents packed in their living room. No grand piano or marble busts here. Ryan's walls alternated between bookshelves and windows. The bookshelves contained pictures of his brotherstwo were in their NHL uniforms, two were in military dress and one wore a suit as slick as anything Ryan had in his closet. But her favorites were photos of the brothers on the lawn of a big house on the waterthrowing a football, pounding a volleyball, engaged in a fierce tug-of-war.

She should have known the man who'd guided her around the Himalayas wouldn't be completely self-indulgent. He had family. Roots that he obviously cared about.

"I like it," she told him honestly, stepping deeper inside where a fireplace nestled near a breakfast nook off the kitchen. "Very welcoming and livable."

"Thanks." He tossed his keys on the dining table as he followed her toward the kitchen. "Can I get you something to drink?"